titANSACTlOls'S OF SECTION F. 



655 



The uet decrease on this basis was 235,000/., or 7§ per cent. 



This reduction of 235,000/. represents the value of the labour of 5,220 men, 

 earning 45/. each in the year. The reduction in the number of men employed has 

 no doubt been much greater than these figures indicate, because less attention has 

 lately been given to hedging and ditching, and to farm roads and repairs generally. 

 Improved machinery has undoubtedly helped to reduce the labour bill, more 

 especially in connection with hay time and harvest. 



In 1901 there were 1,358,000 men and boys in Yorkshire ten years old and 

 upwards : of these 1,166,000, or 85j»g^ percent., were engaged iu the various occupa- 

 tions; of these only about 82,000, or about 7 per cent, returned themselves as 

 farmers or as being employed by farmers. The number of men and boys employed 

 by farmers was 57,600 : of these 10,600, or over 18 per cent., were sons or other 

 relatives of farmers. 



The_ following table appears to point forcibly to one of the great advantages of 

 living in a rural rather than in an urban district. It will be seen that the pro- 

 portion of persons who attain a good old age is considerably greater in rural than 

 in urban districts. 



Men and Women 



Age G6 and upwards 

 Age 55 „ 



Age 50 „ 



Age 45 „ 



In Urban 

 Districts 



In Kural 



Districts 



No. 

 113,400 

 288,760 

 412 950 

 564,470 



No. 



33,160 



70,400 



94,270 



121,960 



Total Urban 

 and Kural 



No. 

 146,560 

 359,160 

 507,220 

 686,430 



Urba 



Per cent. 

 3-74 

 9-54 



13-65 



18-65 



Rural 



Per cent, 



5-86 



12-45 



lC-67 



21-57 



In the various branches of house building and works of construction, 110,960 

 men and boys, employers and employed, were engaged : of these only 4,127, or 3/^ 

 per cent., were, in 1901,65 years old and upwards, whereas of the 81,834 men and 

 boys, employers and employed, engaged in farming, 6,484, or Z^fV per cent., were 65 

 years old and upwards. Of the 24,244 farmers (men) 4,067, or 16^^ per cent , were 

 65 years old and upwards. Of 1904 clergymen of the Established Church, 238, or 

 12^ per cent , were 65 and upwards. These resided some in urban and some in 

 rural districts. The actual number of persons employed by farmers was not re- 

 corded in any census before 1901, but the number of persons employed by farmers 

 in England and Wales, exclusive of all women and children who were related to 

 their employers, and also exclusive of boys under 15 who were related to their 

 employers, was, in J 881, 965,200; in 1891, 806,000; in 1901, 727,100. The 

 decrease in 1901 as compared with 1881 was 238,100, or 24| per cent. The 

 decrease in 1901 as compared with 1891 was 138,900, or 16 per cent. During 

 the same period there was a large increase in the number of persons employed on 

 the land as gardeners, woodmen, and nurserymen. Country labourers are now 

 better fed, better clothed, and in some respects better educated than in any former 

 period. 



In many districts the homes of agricultural labourers are less satisfactory than 

 could be desired. 



In order to encourage the best class of cattlemen, shepherds, and field labourers 

 to remain as farm workmen an adequate supply of comfortable cottages should be 

 provided, each having sufficient good land attached to provide an ample supply of 

 vegetables, fruit, and milk for the labourer and his family. A home of this kind 

 has always been found to be an invaluable school for children, and not infrequently 

 lit has proved to be a stepping-stone to a larger holding. 



3. Monthly Index Numbers of Prices for 1906. 

 By Clarence S. Hovvells and H. Stanley Jevons, M.A.^ B.Sc. 



The wholesale prices of forty-three commodities, as quoted by the ' Economist,* 

 liave been averaged for each month and their unweighted geometric mean taken, 



